This is what I’ve been waiting for all along… everyone is claiming China has their act together, they have the manufacturing sector, the growth, the MONEY. And yet corruption will leave them bankrupt like everyone else.

Wait and see – a country of that size with a communist government able to eliminate inconvenient checks and balances… and you have a situation ripe for fraud.

After thinking a bit more about this my take is Google found religion after realizing China was only going to take everything it could steal. If Google was going to lose because of China’s theft then it only made sense (and good public relations) to announce to the world that it would draw the line with China.

But having Google pull out its business may prove too much of an embarrassment and an acknowledgment of systemic repression, two things the Chinese government would like to avoid. Google could end up losing out on a potentially huge market, but if it doesn’t stand up for its IP, the Chinese will most certainly take such steps again in the future.